The Promise Ring
by ErynMichelle
Summary: a cute little thing I wrote while drinking a lot of Vanilla Coke.... very very funny....at least, I thought it was


Lily and James were sitting in an armchair in front of the common room fire, Lily on James's lap, one particular evening at 11 o'clock.  Sitting on the couch next to them was Remus, with his girlfriend of four months, Amy, on his lap, and Peter, whose girlfriend was in Ravenclaw, was currently sitting by himself. 

(AN-I'm NOT making Peter extremely stupid or unpopular or annoying, and if you don't like it, ignore it, or don't read it.  I don't mean to be mean, but I really don't want to make Peter feel left out, and he isn't very smart when it comes to school, but his street smarts have to be pretty darn good because, c'mon, he DID know when to hang around the right people.)  

Lily and Amy were talking to one another, even though they were not friends before dating the Marauders, they were each others only close friend now.  That's actually what they were discussing at the moment.

"Remind me why we ditched our friends for these bozos, Lil," said Amy glancing at James, Remus, and Peter who were currently fighting over whether Malfoy or Snape was worse.

"Well, dear Amy, I am afraid we will never know.  They were charming at first I suppose.  I almost miss having normal friends, but you know how it is.  You date one Marauder and you're stuck pretty much dating them all, and that really leaves no time for friends."

"Ahh, yes, the infamous problem.  You know that on our first date, Remus brought all of them along.  I spent almost the entire time riding piggy-back on Remus while Sirius got extremely hyper off a new product at Zonkos," said Amy, laughing at the memory and ducking under a rocket that was accidentally set off by the three boys shooting sparks at each other while still having the girls on there laps comfortably.

"Duck, Lil!"  Lily heard James whisper in her ear and she ducked her head slightly, a firework missing her head by six inches.  "Oops.  Close one.  Thank you!"  She pecked James on the cheek and he smiled at her for a moment before retuning a spark Peter sent his way.

"Yes, I remember James wanted me to come meet you.  Sorry 'bout that but I had to make up homework, I was sick that week.  But I have to tell you, my first date with James was much, much worse.  First we went to Hogsmead, and it wasn't a Hogsmead weekend, so we had to sneak out.  Of course, Sirius was hyper, which, you know is actually quite fun, but when you are trying not to make a whole lot of noise and Sirius is trying to be Secret Agent Man and is singing the theme song very much above a whisper, that is not very easy."  

Lily shook her head smiling and Amy started laughing as the boys, who were very much listening and just pretending not to be, started singing "Secret Agent Man" at the top of their lungs, causing two fifth year boys to yell for them to "Shut the bloody hell up!"

"Anyway," continued Lily, ignoring the boys' laughter, "needless to say, Filch came after us so we had to run.  Then, when we actually got to Hogsmead, Peter picks me up, pretending he is kidnapping me, and jumps straight into the fountain, still carrying me-"

Lily was interrupted by the high fives of the three boys, or the cheers of "Oh yeah I forgot about that!", "Nice job, Peter!", "Awesome work, Petey!" and "Just a chip of the old block, 'ey mate!"

"That fountain was a lot deeper than it looked!"  Lily tried to persuade them to see her side, but she wasn't convincing as she had doubled up in laughter as well.  "Anyway, the rest of these doofs decided to jump in also, but there was a lot of moss growing on the floor and walls, so we couldn't get back out.  We were in there for about twenty minutes before I finally remembered I was a witch and used a levitation spell to get out."

"Hey!" James tried to defend himself, "I just momentarily forgot, ok?"

"James, honey," came Lily's soothing voice, "I hate to break it to you, but you're a pureblood."

James laughed at the amusement in her eyes and kissed her softly, both of them, eyes wide open, looking at the other, and not blinking.  He smiled and mumbled a playful "shut-up" against her lips.

Their little moment was ruined as they heard a noise behind them and saw Remus, Amy, and Peter making gagging motions.

"Not in public, you lovey-dovey weirdos!"

Lily just laughed and snuggled further into the warmth that was James.  She paused and thought for a moment before leaning close to Amy so that the guys couldn't hear what they were saying.

"You know, Ame, having to date all the Marauders isn't that bad."  She whispered.  "At the end of the day," she smiled, "look at what we get to keep."  The girls both looked at their boyfriends and smiled warmly at each other before snuggling into them.  Both girls were not aware that the boys had heard Lily, and James thought to himself, 'No, Lily.  At the end of the day, I have you, I have an angel.'

Just then Sirius walked in, happily singing "Girl Just Want to Have Fun" in a voice even Cindy Lauper would have thought matched her own.  Everyone burst out laughing and Sirius took no notice of them kept singing and, miraculously, eating at them same time. 

As the rest tried to control their laughter, Sirius sung the song the song till the very end, and when it was done started singing "Does your Chewing Gum (Lose it's Flavor on your Bedpost Overnight)" which sent them all into peals of laughter once more, (AN- that is a real song!  It is so funny! Email me if you want me to send it to you!) before finally finishing off with "Yakety Yak".  

"Sirius!"  Lily finally managed to gasp out, "You are so weird."  Lily had been dating James for about seven months so she was used to how perfect his voice always was when singing.

Remus was still laughing, and the rest of them could hear him mumbling, "Girls just want to have fun!" over and over again.

When they all had calmed down, James asked Lily to hand him a cupcake, and when he bit into it, he got frosting on the upper left corner of his mouth, and Lily licked it off quickly before James could.  She laughed and whispered in his ear, "That was good," and as James was just about to stuff the rest of the cupcake in his mouth, she stole it and stuffed it in her own and, still grinning and talking with her mouth full, said a very jumbled "Thank you".

Sirius was watching all of this with amusement and, raising his voice a bit louder starting singing.

"Lilsy and Jamie,

Sittin' in a tree-"

"Oh good Lord, not this again," muttered Lily and James.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G

First comes love,

Then comes marriage,

Then comes the baby

In the baby carriage."

By now Remus and Peter were laughing so hard their sides hurt and Amy was trying to muffle her laughter in Remus's shirt.

"That's not all!"

"It's not?!"  Lily groaned.  "Goshdangit."

"That's not all!

The baby's drinkin' alcohol!"

"Aww," said Lily, "That's so sad."

"Well," said Sirius on the verge of laughter, "It was originally 'That's not all!  That's not all!  The baby's playin' basketball!' but I like my version better."

Everyone laughed and Lily asked, "How is it you always manage to crack me up?"

Sirius did his best Dumbledore impression as he peered at her as though he was wearing glasses, "Are you an egg, Mrs. Pott- I mean," Sirius paused and faked a cough, "Miss Evans?"  Lily put on a straight face and shrugged her shoulders, "Sure."

"Leeeeeeeeeleeeeeeeeeee!" came Sirius's high pitched squeal, "You were s'posed to say no!  That way I could say 'Then you can't really crack, can you?'  But nooooo!  You just had to spoil my fun!"  He turned his back to Lily and pretended to sob and Lily went over and put a hand on his shoulder, playing along.

Lily put on her most dramatic voice, "Aww, Sirius, I'm sorry. Please!  Please!  What can I do for you to forgive me?"  Sirius's face brightened with his smile and he turned to face her and everyone else could see the both of them, and were watching with smiles.

"You could break up with James and run away with me and we can get married!"  Both of their voices were dramatic and pitched as if they were on a soap.  Lily stifled her laughter and put a hopeful look on her face.  "Oh, Siri!  Do you really think we could, how long have you known I loved you?! Did you know that I only went out with James to be around you and make you jealous?!  Please tell me you love me too!"

"Oh, silly Lily.  Of course I have known.  Run away with me!"

"Of course, but where to?  Where can we get married so young?!"

"I know!"  Sirius grabbed Lily's hand and, both running, dragged her up the stairs to the boys dormitory.  "We cannot be formally wedded at the time, Lily, but I shall show you how much I love you!"

"Lily!  Lily!"  No one had seen James get up from the couch to run for the stairs.  He took Lily's other hand in his own and knelt before her.  "I can give you everything, Lily, don't leave me!"  His voice was dramatic and desperate and Amy couldn't help but giggle at the scene.  "He is just using you, Lily!  He doesn't love you like I do!  I can give you everything you would ever need!  Please, Lily!  Give me another chance!  Please, marry me!"

"You can give me everything?  What do you have that Sirius cannot give me?"  Lily spoke skeptically, but she was not sure how she did it with a straight face.

"I can give you love, affection, a royal treatment, and most of all, money."

"Money!  You never told me you were rich!"  Lily dropped her voice as if she were pondering something.  "Well this changes everything."

James pretended to just catch on to what Lily was saying.  "Yes!  I have much more money than he does and I have diamonds and emeralds and sapphires to your hearts desire!"

"James!"  Lily made her voice seem fake as she hugged James and kissed him lightly pretending to meld into him as if he were sheltering her from Sirius.  "It was a spell, James, I always loved you!  It was Sirius!  He did this!  I didn't mean to, James!"

Sirius regained his regular voice again and started laughing.  "All right, all right.  Why is it you always end up with the girl?"

James and Lily had also gone back to their normal voices as they answered at the same time, "It's the money."  They then both burst into laughter and walked back to the armchair they were sitting at before, James falling into the chair and then gracefully pulling Lily onto his lap.  James wrapped his arms around Lily's waist and then placed a few kisses on her neck and one on her cheek before they turned their attention back to the group where Sirius had sat down in the other armchair.

Lily reached for a chocolate frog and opened it slightly to see which way it was facing, then closed it and turned it to face the other way and angled it a special way before opening it and it hopped straight into her open mouth.  Everyone except James gaped at her.

Sirius was the first to say something.  "One; how do you know how to do that; Two; why isn't James shocked; Three; can you teach me how to do that?!"

Lily laughed at Sirius and James grinned like a Cheshire cat as Lily leaned further back into him and closed her eyes peacefully.  "One; I thought that was how you were supposed to eat them back in first year and it has become a habit, Two; James isn't shocked because I do it all the time in front of him, and he does it too whenever he is around me; says I am bad influence, Three; I can't teach you because it is too difficult."

"But then how does James know how?"

"He taught himself with a lot of encouragement by me promising to kiss him if he learned how."

Remus laughed.  "Only a kiss!  Geez, Prongs, she really _HAS_ changed you!"

"Hush up," said James teasingly as he kissed Lily on the cheek.

"Anyway…" said Sirius, "Let's play charades!"

"Sure, Sirius…..Why not?" asked Peter.

"Uhhh…..Hold on.  Sirius, where did you put the drinks?  Did you bring any Vanilla Coke."

"Yeah, I did.  There should be some under the table; I put a cooling charm on them.  Why?"

"Well, you see," Lily grinned quite foolishly here, "There is something you all don't know.  Well, except for James, but he knows everything, so never mind!  But, erm, I get a teensy bit hyper when I drink Vanilla Coke and, in my own way, a bit…tipsy?"  (AN- This actually can happen!  It happens to me all the time) Here Lily grinned out right and took two bottles and placed them on the floor beside the chair, then took a third and started drinking it.  Within a few gulps, she was halfway through.  Once again, (except for James) everyone just gaped at her.

"What!" she exclaimed, "I would never, in my fully right mind, play charades when it involves Sirius and James!"

"Hey!" came the indigent exclamation from the both of them.  Peter and Amy burst into fits of giggles.

"Well," said Lily feeling a bit sheepish, "I wouldn't."

"Oh hush, Lil," James said before kissing her once more on the cheek and stealing a huge gulp of her Vanilla Coke, causing Lily to protest.  James silenced her with a, "What, love?  I wasn't going to get any otherwise."

"Well," Lily was almost at a loss for a comeback so she turned her head, smiled, and stuck out her tongue, "mlah!"  She and James both burst out laughing and he kissed her forehead before turning her back around and pulling her tightly to his chest and almost crushing her as he buried his face into her hair and would not let her go.

Sirius learned over to Peter and started whispering.  "They are just so dang cute.  Have you ever seen James so attached to a girl?'

"No.  He has never been like this before."

"I know, that is what I was thinking about.  I know I was teasing him earlier, but I really think he loves her, Pete."

"You know, Sirius," Peter threw his arm over Sirius's shoulder; "I think so too." "Hmmm….." was Sirius's only reply.

"Charades!" Sirius shouted, scaring everyone else.

"Alright, alright.  I am guessing you want to go first, Siri?" Lily guessed.

"Yep!"  Sirius stood up and walked to stand in front of the fireplace.  He stuck out one finger.

"One word," Lily received a nod in reply.  Sirius stuck out one finger again.  "One?...Part?" Lily received another nod.

Sirius then proceeded to walk over to James and pretend to hit him over the head with something.

"Rolling pin?" asked James, rolling his eyes.  "Hun?" came Lily's voice, "I am pretty sure that's two words.  What else would you hit someone over the head with…?"

Amy's voice spoke up, "A pan?"  Her guess was rewarded by an energetic nod.  Sirius stuck out two fingers.  "Second part." Stated Amy unnecessarily.  Sirius started grabbing air and putting it to his face greedily.

"Eating?" guessed Remus, snickering.  He was rewarded with a piercing glare and a shake of the head.

"Um….eating SOMETHING?" Peter asked, and Sirius nodded his head frantically.

"So…." Lily said, "What does Sirius eat like THAT?"

A smile formed on all the marauder's faces.

"Cake!" James, Remus, and Peter shouted.

Sirius was shaking his head frantically.  Then, he walked over and sank into an empty arm chair.

"Pancake?" Lily asked disbelievingly.  "That was your word?!"

"Yep!" came Sirius' happy answer.

"Um….ok….." said Amy.

"Now that we have had our many laughs for the night, I, for one, am going to bed."  James' voice was gentle as he and Lily stood up.

"I think I am going too," came Lily' yawn as she leaned against James and he put his arm protectively around her waist and kissed the top of her head, lovingly stroking her hair.

"I'll come tuck you in," he stated, his voice a little louder than a whisper.  The rest were silent as they tried to catch his words.

"Ok.  Goodnight you two."

"Goodnight."  Lily and James called as they walked up the stairs to the girls dormitory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Meanwhile, with the group downstairs~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They heard the sound of stairs creaking and a door shutting, and the silence downstairs turned into laughter.

"How long do you think it is that they have been having sex?"

"Three weeks," guessed Amy.

"Nah," said Remus, "more like six, I'll bet."

"Hmm…..they have been all cuddly since forever, so I will say since before they were dating," Remus, Amy, and Peter all laughed at Peters weird, but reasonable guess.  Through the laughter a solemn voice spoke up, quietly, but unmistakable.

"Never."  They all looked at Sirius questionably.  He did not even let them ask their question.  "They have never had sex before.  Lily wants to wait until marriage, and James wants to wait for Lily.  You know, they have been going out longer than you think.  You never saw them, when they were trying to keep it a secret.  It must be two year almost.  So, never.  Plus, didn't you all notice the ring on her third finger, right hand.  It is a promise ring.  James wants to marry that girl."  By the time Sirius finished his speech, he had a broad smile on his face, his eyes gleaming with happiness.

"And I am going to do everything I can…."

"To help him make sure that he does."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back with Lily and James walking up the stairs~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I can't believe I am so tired.  I am so glad we don't have classes tomorrow.'

"I know what you mean."  James responded, but all the while he had been staring down at that wondrous head of hair that belonged to a girl who had stolen his heart completely.

James opened the door for Lily, and they tip toed into the room.  Quickly they got behind the changes curtains of Lily's bed where Lily muttered a silencing charm.

Lily and James both took off their wizarding robes, showing their pajamas that they had worn underneath.  They laid down on the bed, Lily's head burrowed into James' chest, one arm around his middle, and one leg tangled with his.  James squeezed her left hip lightly, keeping his hand there and making Lily laugh quietly.  James loved the sound of her laugh.  He knew it sounded so cliché, but the only way he could describe it was musical, angelic, perfect.

He moved his other hand from her shoulder to the right side of her neck, stroking he neck, her cheek, her temple, her ear.

He brought his lips down to her ear.  "I love you Lily, with all of my heart and soul."

"I love you James, more than Disney and Vanilla Coke, more than writing or singing, more than everything I can think of, and oh so much more."

James kissed the skin right next to Lily's ear, her cheek, her nose, before looking into her eyes and kissing her.

Lily sighed into his mouth and tried to develop the kiss with all of her passion and love for him.

James could feel Lily press into him and kiss him back, but as much as she tried to hide it, he could tell she was tired.  He slowly broke the kiss and kissed her lips a few times, licking his lips in between, but when he pulled away the last time, he didn't, trying to savor her taste forever.

"Sweet dreams, Lily."

"For always, James."

Lily closed her eyes and pulled James closer and drifted off to sleep.

James, however, was wide awake and watching her with loving eyes.

"Will you marry me, Lily?  For always?"  his voice was a whisper as he looked at the sleeping girl.  A soft smile appeared on Lily's face and she looked up at James with half open, sleepy and yet adoring eyes.

"For always and forever."

Hey!  I hope you guys had as much fun reading this as I did writing it.  Please read and review.


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